Sala Urbana Article

Free opera in Humacao

The goal of the producer, the nonprofit organization Coquí Charities, is to contribute to the “social, economic and cultural wellbeing” of Puerto Rico, affirms.

 Statements, from the interviews, in this story were translated.

The nonprofit organization Coquí Charities promotes its concert “From Pop to Opera” at the Centro de Bellas Artes (CBA) in Humacao, this time free, on October 19th, for the enjoyment of citizens, especially young people.

“This year, what we want to try to do is get enough sponsors to where we can allow kids to come in [to the concert] for free. If we raise any money, we want to buy musical instruments for the local schools”, indicated one of the organization’s directors, Bruce Deichl.

The entity, established in 2015, seeks to promote the “social, economic and cultural wellbeing” of the island, its website points out, for which it has ventured into other projects such as granting scholarships to students (and, through its cultural exchange program, to dancers), production of the concert “Borinquen Brass en la Navidad” and sponsorship of murals, such as those present in the urban area of Humacao by the movement “Humacao Grita”, a project by Elegel Group.

“I was raised to pay it forward, not to take in, but to pay it forward”, Deichl expressed.

In December 2022, “From Pop to Opera” featured the Camerata Pops Orchestra, tenor Rafael Dávila, soprano Doris Muñoz, and dancers Alexis Cruz and Adriana Torres. The funds from the event were raised for scholarships to students for The Palmas Academy, in Palmas del Mar in Humacao, a school that then also celebrated its 30th anniversary.

The show began with the opera with dancers, continued with the presentation of scenes from the musical “West Side Story” by students of The Palmas Academy, and ended with popular music, mentioned the also member of the entity Doris Muñoz.

“It’s special, as well, because there’s many students from Humacao and they had never seen opera singers, and that was really special for [them]. It’s not something you see commonly in Humacao”, she commented.

“I really like to make an impact in this area, in Humacao, and I found that it was good to be on the board of Coquí and try to help as well with my talent but also try to get it funding and some other work”, she added.

For Deichl, the concert has been one of the best he has attended, even though blackouts were experienced, for which people in the audience turned on the flashlights of their cell phones to illuminate the musicians, who continued without microphones.

“There are a lot of companies and people who like to help the community and young people, and they are very interested in promoting culture, but at the same time they are very interested in helping young people in different areas, whether it’s drawing, music or sport. We call on those people who are involved in those areas to resonate with our project and to join us to be able to give more”, explained the organization’s social media manager, Hilda Muñoz.

The soprano, for her part, hopes to inspire young people by showing them that being an opera singer is possible and to contribute, via Coquí Charities, to the realization of their dreams in the arts, as was the case of the dancer Cruz, who received a scholarship from Coquí at Ballet Forte at Wings Conservatory in New Jersey, United States.

“As a singer, I feel like when I was a little girl, when I barely thought about singing, I didn’t know, for example, in Humacao, where to go or what to do, and most people, once you go to college or San Juan [(the island’s capital)], you see a lot of kids who have already been in choirs and things like that. I always felt very far behind even though we have the Escuela Libre de Música and all of that. I think that, as a singer, I want to inspire more students and make them more curious about classical music and that style of singing that is as antique as opera. You never know, when you’re doing a concert, how many kids will say, ‘Wow, how did she do it? I’d like to do that”, she detailed.

The nonprofit organization also wants to restore murals and offer musical instrument (such as percussion), dancing and singing lessons. For volunteering, donations, and additional information, Coquí Charities can be contacted via email coquicharities1@gmail.com.

“Each [of the projects] is unique and important. I think it makes a big impact on the community, and the most interesting thing (or, for me, the most important thing is) that it’s focused on the arts. There are a lot of nonprofits, but our main focus is the arts. We give way to people who want to be dancers, who need that push to get to such a place to represent us, and we, then, help them. The arts should also be the focus, as well as sport. They should be part of our day-to-day life and part of our development,” punctuated the organization’s social media manager.

Photo fit from sources: From left to right, Coquí Charities member Doris Muñoz, one of the directors, Bruce Deichl, and the social media manager, Hilda Muñoz.

This story was created by Sala Urbana and was not commissioned by Coquí Charities.

Journalist: Janeyrie Ramos